


Summer In St. Petersburg

by jupiter_james



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Hiatus fic, M/M, Summer Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 12:56:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9236147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jupiter_james/pseuds/jupiter_james
Summary: Yuri and Viktor try to meet each other halfway during their summer before they become competitors.You can hover over the foreign words for the English translation!





	

Katsuki Yuri waits a lot these days. Broods. Wonders. What's up with Viktor? He hasn't been around much. He says he's preparing for his comeback, but as far as Yuri can tell, it just means visiting an awful lot of beaches. And then calling Yuri to demand he visit as well. At first, Yuri had come up with his excuses well enough, but then Viktor had pulled out the big guns.

He's lonely and he'll never admit it. The picture texts made it clear.

_This shell is beautiful. You really should see it in person._

_You need to try this ice cream. It's the best in the world. Bet you regret not coming now._

_I'm forgetting how to speak Japanese._

Yuri is back in St. Petersburg, and he's not being manipulative at all. His text has no pictures. It simply says, _I want to show you all of this, Yuri. Please come._ Yuri can't say no because... well, he _can't_. There aren't any excuses important enough for Viktor to be both lonely _and_ sad.

So Yuri waits. Broods. Wonders. Today it's at Fukuoka Airport. He's sitting again in the uncomfortable plastic chairs, earbuds on, replaying the language lesson on his phone over and over. He does this every time he travels to a new country. It's an old habit to keep up the mental exercise.

He slouches further into his chair mouthing the repeats of the phrases being spoken.

"привет."

"Привет как дела?"

"меня зовут Yuri."

Over and over. It's all so basic. Too basic. He swipes away from the music app to duolingo and tries a few more ambitious phrases he's never even said to someone in his native language.

"я скучаю по тебе."

"я люблю тебя."

He almost bites his tongue. He can't say any of that out loud. I sounds too forward. He swipes off the page and goes back to the basics.

"Где здесь ванная комната?" That's much easier. Useful, too.

He should be listening to possible songs for his routines. Viktor will be angry when he finds out that hasn't been happening lately. But Yuri can't help it. It's summer, and he's at the airport, and September seems awfully far away for now. They'd spent plenty of time in the early stages of planning for competition.

The whole thing seems even further away as he boards the plane in the first group since Viktor had sprung for a first class ticket. His experience in coach before had been enough for him. Even the memory of it appears to be distasteful enough that he won't let Yuri suffer through it, either. Not like he's complaining as he settles into the plush seat, opening the complimentary blanket and draping it over himself.

A few more hours and he'll see Viktor again in St. Petersburg. His hometown. It makes something clench inside Yuri just thinking about it. But it's a good opportunity. Something that will put them on equal footing.

Before they're rivals.

Yuri reaches over and lifts the sunshade next to him as the plane begins to taxi down the tarmac. 

He's not an idiot. He's not nearly as demonstrative as Viktor, but he knows why they're on this victory vacation tour. They need to solidify. Competition is hard. Fracturing. Yuri's gone into it all with a sense of purpose. After all, Viktor's done more for him in a single season than anyone else in his life. It can't help but change him in so many ways. That's no small matter. In fact, Yuri is sure he'll never be able to pay the man back for it. Viktor expects a lot, too.

He expects them to be strong. And he has no idea how to achieve that. Neither of them have been in this situation before.

Sometimes the ring on his finger feels awfully heavy.

Much heavier than his feelings for the enthusiastic Russian.

With a renewed sense of purpose, Yuri digs into his carry on, finding his Lonely Planet guide to Russia. There's a large section dedicated to cultural conflicts. It's terrifying to read. Viktor must expect all the... touching, lack of personal space, noise... everything Yuri simply isn't. 

But there are other things there, aren't there? There are _reasons_ they share paired rings. There are reasons Viktor kissed him in front of thousands of people and dozens of cameras. Reasons that can pull together any fractures. It's like kintsugi, he's certain. Anything that damages them is repaired with gold to become more beautiful. That's proved by the gold circles around their fingers. And for now it's good enough. Better than it was before.

That's what he tells himself as he tries to sleep through his anxiety. He's not sure what face he should make when he sees Viktor again. Why is he so nervous, anyway? They'd seen each other in Spain two weeks ago. It might as well have been a million years ago.

xxXXxx

It feels like ten seconds later when the plane is ready to land. The beautiful flight attendant takes his finished drink and breakfast dishes, and Yuri puts everything back into his carry on, groggy from the mild sleeping pill. He's never been good at waking up. Maybe especially when he has a good reason to get up.

He's the fifth person off of the plane. The lobby isn't full enough yet that he can't immediately find Viktor in the small crowd gathered.

And even from a distance he can see those arresting blue-green eyes widen a split second before the rest of the Russian's body reacts. He rushes forward, ignoring the roped off portion of the arrivals lobby. 

Yuri's used to the hugs by now. He's offered a few of his own, in fact. Come to expect them, really. And they're nice in a confounding sort of way because Viktor puts his whole body into them. So, he's shocked when the Russian stalls out at the last minute, arms not even raised to grab Yuri into one of his clingy embraces, about three feet away, and bows a little instead. What's this about?

"ようこそ."

"Viktor..." Yuri starts. He's not sure how to react to this.

And the Russian must see the confusion plain on his face, because he relaxes into a sheepish smile and holds up a familiar book, this one in Russian. "I should have done this before," he says affectionately with regret.

Yuri takes the Lonely Planet guide from him, turning it over in his hands. He can't read it, but it's clearly the companion to his, instead of being a Japanese guide to Russia, it's a Russian guide to Japan. "What do you mean?"

Viktor gestures towards the baggage claim and they start walking slowly towards it. "I should be more sensitive to cultural differences."

Ah. Something like how Yuri had been fully prepared for a bone crushing hug and a sloppy kiss on both cheeks. He comes to a stop in the middle of the walkway, a few people nearly bumping into him after his sudden pause. "You're letting a book decide how you want to treat me?" He wants to be offended, but that's impossible since he'd been doing the same exact thing.

"I only want you to be comfortable," Viktor answers.

 _Now_ he's angry. Yuri snaps the handle of his rolling carry on, unzips the front pocket furiously, and yanks out his guide book. He holds it up for Viktor to glance at the cover, and then promptly throws them both into the nearby trashcan with force. "I _am_ comfortable," he fumes. "I was comfortable before! Cultural stereotypes doesn't mean anything if I'd rather meet you halfway!"

He's barely finished his sentence before his previous expectations are met. It's wonderful. Viktor is always warm. Tall enough to envelop him, and hugging him with a ferocity that can't be mistaken for anything else other than starvation for the contact. With him. The hunger comes from _him_. Yuri may step out of character when he's around the other skaters; hugging them and encouraging them in more touchy-feely ways, but nothing at all compares to the way that his body melts against Viktor's simply because it's what he needs for _himself_. The way he craves the contact.

And maybe it _is_ a little bit more than halfway, but he still lifts up on his toes a little to kiss the Russian properly. Viktor definitely wasn't expecting _that_ , if the way his arms tighten are any indication. 

"You smell like the airplane," Viktor murmurs against his lips.

"It was a long flight," Yuri protests with a small smile.

"I should have come to Japan. Then we could relax in the hotspring."

"It wasn't as bad as flying coach. First class had a lot of legroom. I'm not so cramped."

Grinning, Viktor throws an arm over Yuri's shoulder, resuming their walk to the baggage claim. "So, this means you _don't_ want me to give you a nice massage later?"

"I never said that," Yuri mutters. Viktor likes to pretend he's good at therapeutic, athletic massage, but he's not. At least, not with Yuri. It's just another thing Yuri never expected to love.

He realizes how important all of this is to Viktor, and how important it's becoming to him. Once the season starts again, it's going to change. Viktor will be a coach _and_ a rival. The media has already started buzzing about it. Wondering if Yuri is being naive. Wondering if Viktor will sabotage him to earn the gold. 

At first the assumptions had been infuriating. Yuri had gone on a fairly impressive rant while they'd been on a working vacationing in Spain, practicing together while taking in the sights on their rest days.  
But Viktor had only laughed. "They need drama for their readers! Just because they're saying it, doesn't make it true!"

"Yeah, but if I start losing, they'll think it's because you sabotaged me."

Then Viktor, forever full of surprises, had pulled him down to the soft sheets on the bed, and with the passionate intensity that had won him multiple golds, had murmured, "then we're just going to have to make you a program so good that's it's unforgettable. Unquestionable."

The rest of the night had turned out the same way, too.

Yuri trusts Viktor that way. He wants to win - they both do - but there's no victory in tipping the odds unfairly. Viktor wants a real competition. They have their pride in common.

But they both know the summer's not going to last. When the season starts, they won't always be competing in the same place. They won't always be there for encouragement. Yuri won't always be able to clench Viktor's hand and tell him to watch before putting on a show that's impossible to look away from.

In a way, he can sense that Viktor's saving up right now. That's what all the trips away from their friends and family are for, mostly. They're big, elaborate dates that are going to comfort them through the competitions. So, Yuri welcomes all of it. There's the constant feeling of Viktor touching him _somewhere_ at all times. The weight of a hand on his back or over his shoulder that's growing to make Yuri feel naked when it isn't there. It'll stay. He'll always feel it like some phantom limb, and it's the best treasure he's ever been given.

Viktor doesn't let go of him as he grabs his suitcase from the carousel, bodily steering them through the airport and into the parking lot. It's slightly colder in Russia than he thought it would be in the summer.

"Are you tired?" Viktor asks.

It's a loaded question, though Viktor probably didn't mean it that way. There are lots of ways that he could answer, but he settles on, "I don't want to miss a second."

Viktor chuckles. "We have all the time in the world."

Yuri is only in St. Petersburg for a week, and it's already July. The lie is still beautiful. "Doesn't feel that way," Yuri answers. He doesn't mean to sound so melancholy. 

This time Viktor stops them with a hand on Yuri's. He tangles their fingers together tightly. The gold rings pinch. His smile is dazzling in the sunlight. "Fine, then I'll just have to give you forever, won't I?"

What is it with him and loaded questions today? A thousand responses flood Yuri's mind again, though these are easier to sift through. He knows the one that feels the best. "I suppose you will," he says.

It looks like Viktor is about to cry, he's so happy, and that's sort of the expression that Yuri loves the most. It's definitely enough to get him to September. Forever has a lot more appeal, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> I was really nervous writing this. It's my first YOI fic. I hope you liked it!


End file.
